How to Get Your Criminal Record Expunged in NY

New York does not expunge most criminal records. It seals them, which hides the record from employers, landlords, and the general public while keeping it available to a narrow set of agencies. For the person searching how to expunge a criminal record in NY, the practical answer is the same: once sealed, a conviction stops showing up on standard background checks and you can lawfully decline to disclose it. There are several ways to get there. Some happen automatically. One requires a motion in court. Old marijuana convictions are the rare category that gets true expungement, meaning the record is destroyed.

The Automatic Routes: You May Not Need to File Anything

Before preparing a court application, check whether one of New York’s automatic sealing or expungement processes already covers you.

Clean Slate Act

New York’s Clean Slate Act took effect on November 16, 2024. Under it, the court system has until November 16, 2027, to identify and seal eligible convictions without any application from you.¹

The waiting periods run from your most recent sentencing date or release from incarceration, whichever is later, and you must have no new convictions during the period:

Misdemeanors: three years.
Felonies: eight years.

Sex offenses and non-drug Class A felonies (including murder) are excluded. Drug-related Class A felonies are eligible once the waiting period is met.¹ There is no fee and no form to file. Because the courts have up to three years to work through the backlog, someone whose record already qualifies for the older CPL 160.59 pathway may still prefer to file that motion rather than wait.

Dismissals and Acquittals

If your case ended in a dismissal, acquittal, adjournment in contemplation of dismissal that was ultimately dismissed, or another favorable outcome, the record is sealed automatically under CPL 160.50. The court clerk notifies the Division of Criminal Justice Services and relevant police departments, and your fingerprints and photographs are either destroyed or returned to you.²

Reductions to a Violation or Traffic Infraction

If a misdemeanor or felony charge ended in a conviction for only a violation or traffic infraction (both non-criminal), CPL 160.55 seals the record of the original criminal charge automatically. The lesser conviction stays on your record. Convictions for driving while ability-impaired under Vehicle and Traffic Law 1192(1) are excluded from this automatic sealing.³

Marijuana Convictions

The Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act, effective March 2021, is the one place New York uses actual expungement. The record is destroyed rather than hidden. It covers convictions under the former Penal Law Article 221 and certain offenses under Article 222, including possessing up to 16 ounces of marijuana, selling up to 25 grams, and possessing up to one ounce of concentrated cannabis.⁴ All eligible Article 221 convictions were immediately suppressed in 2021, which stopped them from appearing on background checks run through the courts or DCJS while the state worked through the formal expungement process.⁵ No application is required.

Filing to Seal Under CPL 160.59

If none of the automatic routes covers you, or if you don’t want to wait for Clean Slate to reach your record, you can file a motion under Criminal Procedure Law 160.59. Every one of these has to be true:⁶

Your entire criminal history contains no more than two convictions, and no more than one of those is a felony.
At least ten years have passed since your most recent sentencing date or release from incarceration, whichever is later. Time on probation or parole counts toward the ten years; time in jail or prison does not.
You have no criminal case currently pending.
You are not required to register as a sex offender.
The conviction is not in one of the excluded categories below.

Multiple convictions arising from a single incident may, at the court’s discretion, count as one conviction for the two-conviction cap.⁷ Marijuana convictions already expunged under the MRTA do not count against the limit.

Convictions That Cannot Be Sealed

CPL 160.59 permanently excludes:⁸

Violent felonies as defined in Penal Law 70.02.
Class A felonies of any kind.
Sex offenses under Penal Law Article 130.
Offenses involving sexual exploitation of a child under Penal Law Article 263.
Homicide felonies under Penal Law Article 125.
Conspiracy to commit any offense in the categories above.

Most non-violent misdemeanors and Class C, D, and E felonies are eligible if the other conditions are met.

Documents and Filing Steps

You will need three things before you file:

Your official New York criminal history from the Division of Criminal Justice Services. DCJS is the only source. Getting it requires a fingerprint appointment, and the fee is $17.50 in New York or $47.50 at an IdentoGo center outside the state.⁹
A Certificate of Disposition for each conviction, requested from the clerk of the court where you were convicted. The fee is $10 per certificate.¹⁰
The sealing application packet from the NY Courts website, which includes the Notice of Motion, the Affidavit in Support, the Affidavit of Service, and instructions. The forms are free.¹¹

Once you have the documents, the sequence is:¹¹

Request a Certificate of Disposition from each court where you were convicted.
Complete the Notice of Motion and Affidavit in Support.
Serve your completed papers on the District Attorney of each county where a conviction occurred.
Complete the Affidavit of Service confirming when and how you delivered the papers.
File all papers and supporting documents with the court where you were convicted. If the convictions were in multiple counties, file with the court that handled the most serious one.

The Affidavit in Support is where you argue for sealing. Attach anything that shows rehabilitation: employment records, transcripts, letters of support, community service records, program completion certificates.

After you file, the District Attorney has 45 days to notify the court of any objection.⁸ If the DA objects, the judge holds a hearing. If not, the judge can grant the motion on the papers, though a hearing is still possible. There is no set deadline for the judge’s decision.

What the Judge Weighs

Meeting the eligibility rules does not guarantee sealing. The judge must find that sealing serves the interest of justice, and the statute directs the court to consider:⁸

The time since your last conviction.
The seriousness of the offense.
The original charges, if you pleaded down from something more serious.
Evidence of rehabilitation: work, education, community involvement, treatment.
Statements from victims, if any.
How sealing would help you reintegrate.
Whether sealing would undermine public confidence in the justice system.

Concrete proof beats assertion. A record of steady employment or completed programs carries more weight than a general statement about turning your life around.

If the Motion Is Denied

New York’s appellate courts have held that an order denying a CPL 160.59 sealing motion is treated as a civil matter, so you can appeal as of right to the Appellate Division for your county.¹² You can also refile later if your circumstances change, for instance if you finish a degree or add more years without a new arrest.

What Sealing Actually Does

Sealing removes the record from your official DCJS criminal history and standard background checks. You are not required to disclose a sealed conviction on a job application.⁶ Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, background screening companies must have procedures to keep sealed and expunged records out of their reports, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau treats inclusion of sealed records as misleading and inaccurate.¹³ In New York City, the Fair Chance Act treats sealed convictions as non-convictions for employment purposes, so most employers cannot ask about them or hold them against you.¹⁴

Certain entities still see the record even after sealing under CPL 160.59:⁸

You and anyone you authorize.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement acting in that capacity.
Gun licensing agencies when you apply for a firearm license.
The FBI, through the national instant background check system, when you try to buy a firearm.
Prospective employers of police or peace officers, when you apply for that specific type of job.

Under Clean Slate sealing, law enforcement retains access when considering new hires, and certain employers working with children, the elderly, or vulnerable populations can still see sealed records.¹⁵ Immigration authorities can also see sealed convictions, which matters for non-citizens: sealing does not protect against the immigration consequences of a conviction.⁷

1
New York State Unified Court System. New York State’s Clean Slate Act
2
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.50
3
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.55
4
New York State Attorney General. Marijuana Legalization and Record Expungement
5
New York State Unified Court System. Cannabis (Marihuana) and Expungement Under New York State Law
6
New York State Attorney General. Sealing Your Criminal Record
7
NY Courts. Sealed Records: After 10 Years (CPL 160.59)
8
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.59 – Sealing of Certain Convictions
9
Division of Criminal Justice Services. Requesting Your Criminal History
10
New York State Unified Court System. Filing Fees
11
New York State Unified Court System. Application to Seal a Criminal Conviction After 10 Years – CPL 160.59
12
Justia Case Law. People v. Coulibaly
13
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fair Credit Reporting – Background Screening
14
NYC Commission on Human Rights. Legal Enforcement Guidance on the Fair Chance Act
15
New York State Assembly. Clean Slate Act Myths and Facts